


he'd laugh if he got stabbed.

by arurun



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen, Gokudera is so done with him, Immortality, Not Romance, Yamamoto is Immortal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 00:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18487996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arurun/pseuds/arurun
Summary: Yamamoto's an idiot that can't die. Gokudera's the idiot that knows.





	he'd laugh if he got stabbed.

**Author's Note:**

> undead /ʌnˈdɛd/ technically dead but still animate.

Gokudera vividly remembered the first time he'd realized Yamamoto couldn't die.

It was like any other day in Namimori Junior High. The three of them, ready to head up to the roof for lunch-- then, Tsuna had to drop by the staffroom to hand in his late homework, so he'd asked Gokudera and Yamamoto to go ahead of him. 

About halfway up, Yamamoto had attempted a conversation-- which at first, started off with little hostility-- but quickly erupted into their usual one-sided quarrels.

Gokudera couldn't even recall what their fight was about.

But when the dynamites were pulled out-- 

Gokudera never wanted to blow Yamamoto up at all. It had always been harmless threats he fired, despite the lit fuses. He had enough rationality to know when and when not to attack someone. The crackers were easy to put out as long as Gokudera had his temper under control.

But this time, he didn't.

Just as they approached the rooftop entrance, Gokudera realized he had neglected to put the fuse out in time-- and it burned out.

Seconds before it burst in his face, Yamamoto's hand reached in, grabbed hold of the dynamite-- and pulled it toward him. His other arm shoved Gokudera aside--

then **BOOM**!

It had exploded by the window of the door, and the glass was caught up in the blast, shattering in the process. A few shards shot toward Gokudera, managing a cut at his cheek and his arm.

"Yamamoto!" Gokudera called out worriedly.

No one seemed to be panicking about the noise.

Dismissing his own injuries, Gokudera looked past the smoke of the explosion-- and his breath held at the sight.

Yamamoto's hand-- his right hand-- was burned black. It seemed he had let go of the bomb at the last second to avoid anything to fatal-- but his palm was scorched, the layer of skin seared out. It was a bright, gleaming crimson-- of nothing but coagulated blood.

_...Coagulated?_

Yamamoto seemed to have taken the brunt of the shattered glass. There were cuts everywhere, each looking deeper than the other-- and his left hand was pressed tightly over a heavily bleeding eye.

"Yamamoto!" Gokudera quickly crouched down, "What the hell-- why did you do that?!" 

Gokudera never wanted to express concern for the baseball Idiot-- but at this point, it wasn't time to worry about his pride. Yamamoto's dream for baseball aside, if he were to hurt a fellow guardian this badly-- what kind of Family is he supposed to be?

Much more, the Tenth would be in anguish.

"I'll go call that stupid doctor," he told Yamamoto, "He's not gonna leave you like this, male or female." Shamal wasn't a moron, after all. It was the least Gokudera could offer now--

"Don't-" Yamamoto quickly interrupted, a blood soaked hand grabbing hold of Gokudera's wrist before he left, "Wait!" 

Gokudera froze. Yamamoto's voice was pained-- but there it was. The stern, serious tone that he rarely ever showed. At this point, not even Hibari would take that tone lightly.

"Just-- wait a moment," he croaked out, "It'll get better soon."

_It'll get better soon?_

Gokudera's temper flared up in anger, "Is this the time to be this happy-go-lucky?" he raised his voice, "I'm not--"

"Just WAIT!" Yamamoto's temper was lost as well, "Just-- you'll see in a moment. Just-"

And that was when Gokudera realized something. Yamamoto's eye-- it had stopped bleeding a while ago. All of the scratches from the glass had stopped bleeding as well-- much more, his hand...

Gokudera blinked once.

The hand that took his--  _wasn't it badly scalded just moments ago?_

Yamamoto let go of Gokudera's wrist-- his breath came out raggedly as he fell to one knee. 

The skin on his hand seemed to stretch itself out-- or perhaps, it was growing at a rate fast enough to be seen by the naked eye-- each particle and each atom weaved itself back into place, skin interlocking and sealing up the wound as quickly as it could-- until not a single gap was left in skin.

Then, his eye. The lost blood did not group back-- but a huge shard pulled itself out. A bloody piece of glass had been torn out of the organ by some invisible force-- and dropped onto the ground. 

The next Gokudera blinked-- the eye was back in one full piece. Gokudera blinked once more-- and all the glass scratches on Yamamoto were just-- gone.

Yamamoto's breath stabilized. With blood all over his collar and the cuff of his sleeve-- with not an injury, not a scratch on his body-- Yamamoto Takeshi stood up.

Gokudera took a step back. "What-" he couldn't even, "What the hell?"

Yamamoto managed a strained smile. 

"It's a long story," he could only offer.

-

-

Yamamoto wasn't shaken by it in the least. 

He seemed... used to it. He had opted out of lunch to change into his jersey, because his uniform was soaked in blood. Barely bypassing any students on the way to the washroom, his steps were shaky and worrying.

"My wounds heal," he acted like it explained everything, "Not the minor ones, not broken bones-- just the life-risking ones that bleed a lot."

Gokudera recalled an episode Tsuna had told him about just a while ago. Yamamoto's attempted suicide after he had broken his arm. If Yamamoto had jumped at the time-- it seemed that all his injuries would be healed at once.

_But-- but why jump, in the first place, if he couldn't die?_

_Why did he make a big show out of it, too?_

If Tsuna hadn't stopped him that day, what would've happened? Would Yamamoto have jumped? Would he have let the crowd of the school witness his regeneration?

Was he trying to let the masses know him as the monster he truly was?

Why?

Was he tired of it all?

This wasn't the time to be fantasizing about UMAs. 

Gokudera was piecing together things each minute-- he may be overthinking a lot of things-- and a lot of things may never be realized, never be solved-- 

But Gokudera still found himself thinking about Yamamoto for the next few days.

"I bleed a lot so-- ugh," Yamamoto half-faked a retch, "Anemic."

He turned to Gokudera with his signature-- his trademark grin, followed by a light, awkward chortle. With the wall as his support and Gokudera holding onto his shinai--

It was the closest, most familiarly the both of them had ever acted.

 _How is this guy-- this idiot-- still able to act so lackadaisical?_  He just- he just  ** _died_** , and it was Gokudera's fault. Whether he could heal or not had nothing to do with it. It was true and truth that Gokudera nearly killed his fellow Guardian-- or alternatively, have permanently immobilized him.

_Why wasn't Yamamoto talking about it at all?_

Of all the things Yamamoto had ever done, this was the one that irritated Gokudera the most.

-

-

Tsuna had faintly brought up curiosity regarding Yamamoto's attire, but did not indulge further. There was, after all, very little time of recess left.

But it was very clear and evident that Tsuna knew something was wrong about Yamamoto.

They walked home together-- and for once, Yamamoto went home first, claiming he had to elp out his dad at the shop a little earlier than usual.

Once Yamamoto was gone-- Tsuna's smile was too.

"Gokudera-kun," he turned to the bomber boy without a bit of hesitation in his tone, "What happened during recess?"

Gokudera knew the question was coming.

"Pardon me," Gokudera will forever hold this rudeness in his heart, "But nothing in particular had occurred. Why do you ask, if I may inquire?"

Tsuna did not want to doubt his friend-- so he willed himself to trust-- probably not in Gokudera's words-- but in Gokudera's decisions. 

It had to be something vital, if Gokudera of all people was lying to him.

"He's... not as cheerful." Tsuna admitted as they began to walk again, "His smile just feels a little more... strained that usual. I think. I'm not quite sure, something just felt strange."

Gokudera clenched his fist, and looked away.

 _No,_  it went without saying, _I can't tell the Tenth about it._

For Tsuna's sake; for Yamamoto's sake; And for the sake of the bond they currently have.

_I have to steel myself, even against the Tenth._

-

-

Gokudera was the only person that knew.

"Even my Dad doesn't know." Yamamoto had the gall to laugh about it, as he usually and always did. "Don't think he does, anyways." 

Gokudera didn't know how to feel about it. Up until a year ago, all he felt about Yamamoto was the unending urge to get him out of sight. Hostility developed into rivalry-- and it was only recently that Yamamoto managed to take a proper place in the Family-- to Gokudera, at least.

Gokudera knew that everyone, including Lambo, took their own little but strong steps forward to and for the Famiglia. Gokudera couldn't fall behind.

But Yamamoto--  _just, how did he do this? How was he able to become so..._ Gokudera didn't even know if 'strong' was the right word for it.

"Could you keep it a secret from everyone, please?"

Yamamoto, his face pale from blood lost and his collar soaked up in bright red, asked with a perfectly wide grin on his face.

There was no other answer Gokudera could give.

-

Even in the years that passed, Gokudera had taken it upon himself to hide Yamamoto's secrets from everyone and anyone. He would go to any lengths to conceal it. He promised it, too.

Yamamoto got hurt more often after they turned eighteen-- when Tsuna officially took over all of Nono's role and the Guardians had succeeded their predecessors. By the age of nineteen, they were taking jobs in small units-- and by twenty, all of them had become well-capable in handling solo missions across the globe.

Gokudera's first kill came right at his first unit mission with Yamamoto. At the time-- neither of them had the time to be shaken about murder or blood or crimes or if they had to walk off before the rest of the enemy would chase after them if they didn't raise their guard.

Mainly because they were too busy panicking like the apocalypse, trying to figure out which way Yamamoto's head was supposed to face and if all the nerves would really join back if they left it to heal long enough.

Gokudera kept count.

From the time he'd found out the secret-- he had witnessed Yamamoto die  **twenty-eight**  times. The amount of times Yamamoto died on solo missions--  **Forty**. The times Yamamoto died due to random, idiotic incidents--  **twelve**.  _For fuck's sake._

In total... **Eighty**  times now.

By the age of twenty-seven, Gokudera realized he may never get used to seeing this.

-

"Sorry, Hayato," Yamamoto scratched his cheek awkwardly, "I, uh- oh, I have to apologize to Tsuna for the suit too. Maybe I could ask Ryohei-senpai if his flames would fix this... Ah, but then I'd have to explain this tear to him."

With blood soaking the large of his new suit-- staining the peacock blue button-down in a terribly eerie shade of red-- The suit was badly torn, the left sleeve just plain gone--

Gokudera had to resist a cringe as he caught sight of Yamamoto's left.

"Let me guess," Gokudera groaned, closing his eyes and pretending his sigh was in utter resignation, "An axe?"

Yamamoto Takeshi, of all the bloody things, was missing his left arm.For now, he had managed to hide it by throwing his jacket over the shoulder.

Lopped off at the shoulder, a perfectly clean cut perhaps-- the enemy must have been quite skilled in what they used. Regardless, the wound had mildly sewed itself back up. Not a drop of blood could escape and not a bit of dust could permeate-- but Yamamoto did not have the ability to regrow an arm.

He would need his arm back so it could attach itself again. 

"I had it up until the end of the fight, actually," Yamamoto laughed, "Then I turned around and a stray dog stole it before I managed to grab it!"

Gokudera rolled his eyes. "Where's your Akita?"

"Jirou went off to find it, but then I lost track of Jirou too."

"For god's sake!" Gokudera snapped, "How useless could you be??"

"Sorry, Hayato!" he grinned.

"Couldn't you at least _pretend_ to be sincere!"


End file.
